Top Aide Answers to Ethics Panel o

Posted by Kimberly Field Oct 19, 2006

The House ethics committee questioned Royal Alexander, chief of staff to Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-Louisiana, on the Republican handling of ex-Rep. Mark Foley’s behavior towards male pages.

Rep. Mark Foley, R-Florida, resigned his seat September 29th after sexually explicit instant messages to former pages surfaced.

Testifying was done in a closed session, but there are reports of discrepancies in the timelines when Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Illinois, heard about Foley’s overly friendly actions. Foley’s former chief of staff said he first contacted Hastert’s top aide in 2002.

Although Royal Alexander never showed the messages to Hastert’s staff, he did describe them, and mentioned the parents of the Louisiana page wanted Foley’s contacts to be stopped. According to Hastert’s staff, they contacted the House clerk and met with Foley to discuss his behavior.

Although the time lines vary from 2002 - 2003, Rep. Alexander has said, he mentioned the Foley situation to John Boehner, R-Ohio, and referred him to Rep. Tom Reynolds, R-New York, the House GOP campaign chairman. Both lawmakers confirm they spoke to Hastert on the Foley contacts. Hastert has claims he didn’t recall the meeting.

Hastert stands by his first statements, irregardless of recent testimonials. He swears he learned of Foley’s approaches to pages when Foley resigned in September.